Rehman Bhola backtracks from his confessional statement in Baldia inferno case

KARACHI: The key suspect behind Pakistan's deadliest industrial fire, Abdul Rahman alias Bhola who confessed to setting fire to the Baldia factory backtracked from his statement.

In a media talk, Bhola said that he gave the confession statement under duress and he had no part in setting fire to the factory.

“I was put under pressure by a video made of my son,” he said, adding he neither demanded extortion money from the factory owners nor set it on fire upon Hammad Siddiqui’s directives.

Bhola earlier in his confession statement said that Rauf Siddiqui and Hammad Siddiqui took five crore rupees from the owners of the factory.

Meanwhile, the Anti-terrorism Court on Wednesday issued red warrants for fugitive Hammad Siddiqui and ordered inclusion of MQM-Pakistan leader Rauf Siddiqui in the investigation of Baldia factory inferno case, which claimed more than 250 lives.

Earlier, the main suspect made his confession before the Anti-terrorism Court’s magistrate. A six-page challan including Bhola’s confession statement was submitted to the court today.

The court also ordered the MQM Pakistan leader Rauf Siddiqui to contact the investigation officer on the matter.

The investigation officer informed the ATC that a letter has been written to the Interpol for the arrest of fugitive Hamamd Siddiqui.

Bhola set fire to the factory upon Hammad Siddiqui’s order, the confession in the challan stated.

The interim challan mentioned that three suspects are fugitives and two have been arrested.

After submission of the challan and main suspect’s confession, the court adjourned the hearing of the case until February 14.

Bhola was rounded up from Bangkok by the Interpol on December 03, upon the request of Pakistani authorities. He was on the run since four years.

On November 28 during hearing of the Baldia factory fire case, an anti-terrorism court had grilled authorities for not being able to arrest Hammad Siddiqui and Rahman alias Bhola. The court had ordered the interior ministry to arrest fugitives with the help of Interpol.

In September 2012, a deadly fire devoured over 250 lives at a factory situated in Karachi's Baldia Town. Subsequent investigations led to revelations that the factory was deliberately set ablaze over non-payment of extortion money.

Tracing Rahman alias Bhola's trail from Karachi to Bangkok

Abdul Rahman alias Bhola arrested in Bangkok by Interpol was an illegal immigrant, Geo News had learnt. Abdul Rahman travelled to Bangkok from Malaysia aided by human smugglers.

Forty-seven-year old Abdur Rahman made his first passport in 2009 on which he travelled to Dubai. Immediately after the Baldia Factory fire incident Rahman got a residence visa for Dubai. In June 2014, a new passport was issued from Dubai. This passport is valid till January 2019.